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I'll brief. I am web developer right now, but i think i would really enjoy working in the game industry.
I am not envisioning myself playing games all day, but what i am hoping for is a lot of opportunities to solve challenging problems though code.
Even though i have over 6 years of programming experience, i know that most of those things won't apply well to being a game developer.
So here's my question: does it make sense for me to look for even an entry level position at this point? Some listings i looked at don't require previous game programming experience, but list it as a plus. Would i be able to start in the industry with zero experience?

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Yes you can but it will be hard. With you being a web developer I bet your best bet to get you in the door is join the games industry as a web developer. From there you meet people and can potentially at some point prover your self to get to actually working on the games themselves.

Most important point is to Get In The Door. By getting in the door you meet people and make a good impression and they will remember you which gives you that extra step up from some other potentials for the job.

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Yeah if you want to secure a job then write a demo, though I'm sure your 6 years of programming experience will come in very valuable, I'm fairly confident that you'll not have done any system level programming in all that time, and games development is all about the system level. It's also in part about networking, an area of expertise which seems to be in relatively high demand at the moment, and also one which I'm sure you've got a head start in. Flaunt it.

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Original post by EarthboundMisfiti have thought about the fact that I've really only done very high level programming, and nothing that interacts directly with the hardwarei have my work cut out for me

Not all game developers work directly with the hardware, and in fact I expect a large number don't touch it at all these days. Your first stop, should be to leverage the skills you already have. Write a short web-based game. Not a big one; you don't want to waste 6 months on this, more like 2 or 3 weeks. Something simple and turn-based would be fine. However, this would begin to show relevance to game development and get you thinking in terms of what you need for games; objects to represent characters and maps and items, conflict resolution systems for gameplay, separation of game logic and presentation logic, etc. That is a useful first piece for your portfolio and will get you on your way to a second work, probably entirely client-side.

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Original post by KylotanWrite a short web-based game. Not a big one; you don't want to waste 6 months on this, more like 2 or 3 weeks. Something simple and turn-based would be fine. However, this would begin to show relevance to game development and get you thinking in terms of what you need for games; objects to represent characters and maps and items, conflict resolution systems for gameplay, separation of game logic and presentation logic, etc. That is a useful first piece for your portfolio and will get you on your way to a second work, probably entirely client-side.